2016 is gone. Done. Over. A lot happened in 2016 around the world, a lot that was terrifying, unpleasant, and tragic. But as the new year starts, I’ve been looking back at what happened in my own life this past year, and I found there was far more good than bad. In fact, it’s been quite a ride.
As a writer, this was an amazing year. I not only had my fiction and poetry published for the first time, I had three short stories and one poem published. Four different works by me were accepted by four different online journals. Honestly, I had just been hoping for one. I don’t know if I’ll meet that same number this year, but it sure as hell was a great start to what I hope will be a long career (“career” may be stretching it a bit, as the grand total of money earned from my writing in 2016 was around $50).
In terms of my actual-paying-career, however, things have been crazy. I had a full-time job at the beginning of the year, making enough that I contemplated buying a new car (by “new” I mean “used car in the area of $3000”). But I hated that job and the environment I was in. So I thought long and hard about what sort of career I truly wanted to pursue. Getting into publishing hadn’t panned out, but I did have nine years of library experience, and I kept coming back to the idea of finally pursuing a degree in library science. I had considered it before but didn’t think it was a good idea because libraries are consistently struggling to make ends meet. But I love libraries, and I think they will continue on into the future in some form or another. So I made the leap and enrolled in grad school. I quit my full-time job to become a part-time library assistant. Financially, a dumb-ass move, and it has not been easy to deal with the sudden cut in my paycheck, but I’m pursuing what I love, so there’s that at least.
For 2017, I have a lot planned. I’m continuing grad school, and I’m looking into internships and fellowships I can apply for. I’m cleaning up a novel, and I hope to start submitting it to agents/publishers in the next few months. I have another novel I’ve submitted to agents, with no response, that I think might need some editing to get some attention, but I intend to clean that one up and start sending it out again later this year. I have a couple short stories ready to send out and a few more in mind. I have some poems waiting for a publisher, and I have plans for two books of poetry that I want to get started on this year. I have plenty to keep me busy in all areas of my life, and I hope that I can meet at least some of these goals.
2017 – let’s hope it’ll be a good year.
